Tweet
Fish, Thank youRobert DunnMackay. Qld.Growing old is good while it lasts.
-
-
In the nineteen fifties there was a little car known as a Standard 10 Cadet, one model of which had an electrically operated clutch (via a push-button on top of the gear-stick) It was singularly unsuccessful because of reliability problems, but the idea was clever.Inside an enclosure attached to the gearbox input shaft was a metal disk with radial serrations. The whole thing looked similar to a torque converter but in place of oil, it had steel filings!! Yes, really! A magnetic coil in the housing supplied a magnetic field when energised to lock-up the metal filings into a solid lump, thereby 'engaging' the clutch, turn off the power to the coil and the filings relax back into a sort of amorphous but mobile mess, disengaging the clutch. It had a lot of problems in the car, but for the occasional use as a prerotator it might be OK. Standard Ten Cadets are now somewhat thin on the ground, thank goodness, but perhaps someone inventive could come up with something similar.As for the air-conditioner and chainsaw clutches; I don't think they would have the power transmission capabilities. They would have plenty of slip, though!Avoid strong drink! It makes you shoot at tax collectors ....and miss!(Robert Heinlein)R.J.W.S.
Comment
Comment